Update: I called the DAV earlier this week, and finally rattled somebody's cage enough to get them knocking on some doors. Less than 24 hours later, I receive a phone call FROM THE VA (That's never happened in 10 years) explaining the situation.

The verification of dependents form I filed all this time back...it's missing a signature. And they need a copy of my middle daughters' birth certificate.

Nowhere, in all the masses of correspondence, mail, email, internet, and phone, with the VA, over the last year and a half, was this EVER mentioned to me. I have asked dozens of times if they needed anything else. If there was anything I could do. If they had my current mailing address, email, and phone numbers. Anything. I have checked the status of my claim at least monthly, for almost two years. Not a word. And now I find out it's been held up all this time because of a missed signature on a form somewhere.

WTF VA.

I can only suggest working closely with your local Disabled American Veterans. They seem to have an inside line to the VA, one that I have foolishly ignored for years, feeling that I should be able to handle this on my own.

To the many, many others who have served, and are being summarily ignored by the Administration, don't give up.

I take it back!!
I looked and they set me back to start, but I looked on my documents and there it was 10% now I can submit my sleep apnea

Earlier in the day the set my status back 3 steps, which piss me off big time!!!! I checked before bed in my documents and there was the va rating. Instead of going to complete on the status it went to reviewing evidence.

12/9 to 03/16
Finally got my disability claim back approved for adding my daughter as a dependant. Im surprised it went so fast. The only thing I shouldve done was try to add on Tinnitus too back in December.

New date for mine is July 17, 2014, filed February 11, 2010 in Alabama, moved to California December 2010. Can't find work due to the length of my unemployment and the fact I'm on painkillers.
Would think there would be a way to speed the process up but I don't know how.

I got two of my four claims completed this week. One was for 50% (migraine headaches), one was for 30% (reactive airway disease, probably the same thing you got Brian Davis) for using an inhaler everyday before exercise, for a wacky VA total of 70%. VA is still waiting on medical records for my back and a tumor I had growing off my neck to make a decision on those two. Put them in August 302012, completed March 30th 2013 which puts it about 7 months. Pretty fast compared to the average, lucky my claim got moved to OK instead of Oakland!

I got out in august 09 and got my first check by september or october. I started my paper work a month before i got out and i have the VFW or the DAV do it for me. I did all the exams and stuff while i was still in. Basically i did exactly what they told us to do in TAPs classes

I got two of my four claims completed this week. One was for 50% (migraine headaches), one was for 30% (reactive airway disease, probably the same thing you got Brian Davis) for using an inhaler everyday before exercise, for a wacky VA total of 70%. VA is still waiting on medical records for my back and a tumor I had growing off my neck to make a decision on those two. Put them in August 302012, completed March 30th 2013 which puts it about 7 months. Pretty fast compared to the average, lucky my claim got moved to OK instead of Oakland!

haha yeah , thats what I could have however the Docs chalked it up to Asthma. So Im currently waiting for percentages to come down in my medboard but the VA people said im looking at 30% for Asthma/Reactive airway since I use meds daily , 50% for Apnea/Hypopnea and 10% for headaches . 70% is still a good number

Took about 13 months, and then another year and change for one claim that they deferred decision on. The back pay was awesome though. Note I started my claim when still on active duty at the VA office at the Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital.

any one here have experience dealing with VA diagnosed sleep apnea? Went to iraq a healthy boot.. came back a salty sleep apnea devil dog.. hah!

but seriously, if any one here has any info/knowledge how to clear that can you help a brother out? my claim was started in mid-late 2010 or '11 (i forgot already) and was just denied in dec 2012 becauee i missed an appt that i was advised of via mail a day before the appt.. while i was across the country doing some pre deployment training to come out to afcrackistan as a contractor..

anyways, any advice, wisdom, knowledge, is greatly appreciated. if ya'll dont mind.. njzarzosa@hotmail.com would be better than here because i check my email daily vs cal guns somewhere between rarely and often..

yeah wacky va math even though your individual claims are 90% I believe your 3 contentions will end up being 70%

Quote:

Originally Posted by justjeff

VA math puts me @ 115% yet receive 70%

I even when they break it down I still don't understand the math.

here is a break down of their math

Quote:

When a veteran has more than one disease or disability, the disability ratings are not simply added together (for example, a 40% disability rating plus a 20% disability rating does not equal a total 60% disability rating.) Instead, a formula is used to determine the total disability rating level for multiple disabilities. First, the disabilities are ranked from most to least severe. Then, it is determined what percentage of efficiency the veteran retains after the first, most severe disability. For example, if the veteran's most severe disability is rated at 40%, he is still 60% efficient.

After that, the second most severe disability is considered. That second disability rating is applied to the vet's remaining efficiency. For example, if the veteran after the first disability has a remaining 60% efficiency, and his second most severe disability has a 20% disability rating, then 20% of the 60% efficiency is calculated – in this case, 12%, and that number is added to the original disability rating (40% plus 12% equals 52% disabled).

The new disability rating is rounded up or down to the closer 10% increment. In the example above, the 52% rating would be rounded down to a 50% disability rating, and that veteran would be considered 50% disabled.

any one here have experience dealing with VA diagnosed sleep apnea? Went to iraq a healthy boot.. came back a salty sleep apnea devil dog.. hah!

but seriously, if any one here has any info/knowledge how to clear that can you help a brother out? my claim was started in mid-late 2010 or '11 (i forgot already) and was just denied in dec 2012 becauee i missed an appt that i was advised of via mail a day before the appt.. while i was across the country doing some pre deployment training to come out to afcrackistan as a contractor.. l

Sounds like you should get back with whoever helped initiate your claim first time (normally a veterans organization, CA county vet rep, someone of that sort) and see what they can do to re-initiate a new comp and pen for that condition. Not much you can do about whats already been done.

In case you haven't had sleep study already, you can also help develop the claim for sleep apnea by seeing your VA primary care provider and getting a referral to Pulmonary (chest) clinic and then onto a sleep study lab. If you are claiming sleep apnea, you most certainly have to have a past sleep study to prove it if you dont already. Not all people with problems sleeping, have sleep apnea specifically, there are other psychological and physical conditions that prevent people from sleeping well. Whereas sleep apnea is specifically caused by your breathing pattern and not being able to bring in enough air, so your brain chooses to wake you up when oxygen saturation gets too low VS letting you continue to sleep without enough oxygen to brain.

Buddy letters from other people sharing the same sleeping space as you in Iraq can help to validate that the sleep condition you have, did start in Iraq. (true sleep apnea/inability to get enough air into you while you sleep is commonly from people being overweight after the fact) so you want to add weight to the idea that it was something in Iraq that caused it. Obviously if you ever saw sick call in Iraq with any medical document talking about sleep problems that is even better.

Update on my claim: as I've written in the past, I filed September of 2011, I recently was activated to deploy to Afghanistan, out of state at the Mob site currently. Last week I get a call from a medical company, I guess they are contracted by the VA to do the medical screenings to evaluate the validity of the claims, I let them know about being unable to attend, they say no worries, call back and reschedule when I get home and to let the VA know. I call the VA and do so and they made a note of it in my file so my claim wouldn't get cancelled due to not making appointments.

Total BS that it took them 20 months to finally get around to just scheduling the initial appointments.

It's because the total isn't all your percentages added up they look at what you have been awarded for individual conditions then create an overall rating off that. It's to prevent someone who may have 10 small little conditions from getting 100% when they really aren't 100% disabled.

So if you have 3 conditions one with 70%, 10% and 40% they will look at it and go overall his rating is 80% disabled even though the total of the 3 things you are getting paid for is over 100% you can't be more than 100% disabled.

__________________

Sure, I've been called a xenophobe, but the truth is, I'm not. I honestly just feel that America is the best country and the other countries aren't as good. That used to be called patriotism.

Just filed my VA claim at the Camp P VA, picked up my DD214 the next day, and already have an appointment scheduled at the end of this month. Hopefully it won't take months to receive disability if I do rate it!

Just filed my VA claim at the Camp P VA, picked up my DD214 the next day, and already have an appointment scheduled at the end of this month. Hopefully it won't take months to receive disability if I do rate it!

My most recent news:
Applied for increase in August 2012. Received compensation and pension appointment May 2013 via San Francisco VA. Got confirmation and first increase payment June 2013. Claim processed through Salt Lake City, UT.
Heard the VA administration comp and pen office in Louisville, KY has absorbed a great number of the WAY overdo claims (year(s) old claims) and pushed many through for action recently. Once the very old backlog is absorbed, then the newer claims will follow.
My most recent claim activity mentioned above was just an increase, not an initial claim so mine went a different channel but was incredibly fast nonetheless.
edit: I also need to mention that my increase was filed via the "paperless" process via the Ebenefits site vs processing the paper claim. When I got the first payment and confirmation letter regarding the increase it said something in there about how my increase was processed quick because I chose that route and there were multiple references in there to in being the paperless claim process.
Also they bundled my request to correct my dependent rate in with my increase. (was only getting paid wrong amount as if I was a single parent, not married vet with child rate like i should have until now)

good news is eventually you get the back pay in a nice big check. I finally got my letter that i was supposed to get 45 days after going to the VA it was officially 104 days after i went to the VA and the letter summed up says "we are still working on it bla bla bla delay"

hmm.. well, it was the VA that diagnosed me with the sleep apnea from the get go.... youd think it would be easier to greelight my damn claim.. and i worry about claiming ptsd.. i love my guns too much and im still working on getting a good career going.. standing by on the border patrol background as we speak..

oh and im not overweight.. per marine corps standards ive made it to my weight limit.. i had the body composition of that dude from king of the hill, skinny with a beer gut sticking out... but now im in better shape.. nothing better to do out here in afghan than spend hours at the gym... yuut!

Yeah I was at the limit as well but the docs wouldn't check anything. Found out I have sleep apnea which my roommates always said I should get checked out and hypothyroid. After I was diagnosed I told my old platooon commander and he said " we never sent you because you would have been kicked out" pissed me off but at the same time I'm greatful just wish a doc would have noted down my sleeping problems.